When we started watching “Delivery by Christmas,” we did not expect much. After all, wasn’t it just another Christmas movie? What could possibly be better or different about it? But it turns out that within this film industry tradition of churning out as many Holiday season movies as possible with over-the-top emotions that stopped being cute over a decade ago, what makes “Delivery by Christmas” stand out is a genuine love for the festival is expressed through some earnest and effective writing. This is how it all unfolds.
Spoilers Ahead
The Mix-Up
Maria is a single mom who works as a delivery person for a courier service. Krzysiek is an office worker who is fighting with his grandfather to give him his grandmother’s ring. Maria, when making a delivery to Krzysiek’s office building, runs into him while looking for her son. She finds that Max has shredded a lot of Krzysiek’s important papers, so in exchange, she agrees to get him a parcel from his grandfather. But things get messed up when Maria’s boss, insecure and annoyed that she has rejected his advances, messes up the addresses on her packages, causing her to deliver them to the wrong people, which means even Krzysiek hasn’t received what he was expecting. When she receives confirmation of this mess, she has to set out to correct it. To her surprise, she finds Krzysiek in her van. She is stuck with him until he gets the ring. On their way to their first stop, they are delayed when Maria has to stop for some fuel. In the scene that plays out, we get that the makers were trying to convey that Krzysiek is something of a grump, but we couldn’t help siding with him. What is okay about a fuel pump that is stuck and won’t extend beyond a certain limit? Isn’t it the job of the person at the gas station to ensure that his customers don’t have to deal with such issues? Either way, this unfairness aside, Krzysiek accidentally fills up Maria’s van with gasoline instead of diesel and fixing that causes them an inordinate amount of delay.
Meanwhile, Mirek, the person they were going to meet, is facing a crisis because of the wrong delivery. He believes that the person who sent the gift, Milena, is telling him that he is pregnant. He is working a dead-end job and still living with his parents. This is bad news for him. However, he is waiting with his parents for Milena to come home, but he doesn’t want to open the door when the bell rings. Of course, he can’t avoid that, and when he does, it is Maria with the correct parcel, and it is a Christmas miracle that he is not about to be a dad.
While Maria and Krzysiek are on their way to the next stop, he says some judgmentally offensive things. This is when he truly becomes the bad guy, the kind we cannot like. Maria is hurt, and on the pretext of asking him to check her tailpipe, she leaves him stranded in the middle of the road. Honestly, we are surprised she did not give him a good yell as well. She comes back in a while and tells him that she has to go home to pick up her son from the neighbors. Krzysiek did not even have the sense to apologize. So far, we haven’t found one single reason to like this guy. Anyway, back at Maria’s house, when she is a little delayed because of Max, Krzysiek runs out of patience as his girlfriend is waiting for him, and he has to be home soon. He just takes Maria’s van. It is clear he cannot drive or park, and it is genuinely funny when he drives the van down the steps of a park, but his luck is not good that day. The police on patrol spots him and pull him over. He lies that it is his car and tries to pass himself off as Maria, but it is such a pathetic facade that even the officers, who are clearly not very good at their jobs, are able to catch on. But before they can arrest him, he escapes and comes back to find an angry Maria waiting for him. He has loosened some parts of the van due to his negligence, and Maria is furious. Krzysiek apologizes, not just for the van but for his behavior the whole day. In light of what we know about him, we wonder whether he would have apologized if Maria hadn’t been so angry. Krzysiek is a selfish man, and he is not going to do much good for Christmas. Either way, Maria forgives him, and they make their way to their next stop. Surprisingly, even this mishap has led to an interesting story. Estera is a woman whose husband has stopped taking much interest in her. Her advances are ignored, even when she is as direct as possible. When she rips the seam of her dress, she rushes to the tailor. Now, the wrong package has gone to the tailor, and it is something very suggestive. He is under the impression that this is a message from Estera, and when she comes to him with her dress, he makes his move, which is reciprocated.
When Maria and Krzysiek come with the right package, it is already the start of two beautiful relationships, one of love and the other of friendship. Happy accidents! But all is still not well since it turns out that Krzysiek’s grandfather had not given him a ring after all. However, in light of their developing friendship and the spirit of Christmas Eve, Maria gives him her old wedding ring to propose to his girlfriend. This was a tad much, something that could have been skipped in the movie but well. The disgruntled pieces of the puzzle keep coming together, and Maria’s drunken boss admits his mistake to her and asks for her forgiveness. He also ends up with her friend. In fact, it is the end of the day, and the segment of “Delivery by Christmas’ ‘ that follows that explains why it is such a beautiful story. Mirek’s parents have a heart-to-heart where they come to the realization that they have grown apart due to the undue caregiving responsibilities of an adult child. Following that, they make him move out of the house to make his own life. As they begin to rekindle their romance, Mirek finds something of his own when he runs into Milena at the bus stop. Coming to Estera, she tells her husband, Eryk, about her new relationship. She tells him that she wants to “feel alive,” and if that means that they do not stay bound to each other, then so be it. She even encourages Eryk to pursue his lifelong dream of traveling.
‘Delivery By Christmas’ Ending Explained: What Happens To Maria And Krzysiek?
Back to Krzysiek: his girlfriend breaks up with him, and his grandfather is less than sad about that. Krzysiek grew up with his grandpa, and from the looks of it, he might have been an eccentric man. When that happens, the people in their care either turn out to be interesting or they turn out to be stubbornly normal. Krzysiek obviously fell into the latter category. But the day he had had, led him to see the merit of having people who love you while being unfiltered selves. This is what the movie wants us to believe. We think Krzysiek just wanted to save rent when he decided to move into his grandfather’s house from his girlfriend’s place. And we think that other than the bare minimum of decency, which also came a little too late from him, we don’t know whether he has any redeeming qualities. Anyway, Maria comes to their house to return a tiny ship model that Max had taken from them. But the grandfather is in a merry Christmas mood, and he gifts it back to Max. When they are leaving, Krzysiek is on the adjacent road, and he sees the police following her van. He understands what is happening, but before he can tell her more, they are both arrested. Seriously, why is Maria not angry with him? As they are being taken away, they ask the police to make a stop so that they can release Maria’s pet carp into the river. After doing that, they sit for a while, and Maria throws her ring into the river as well, signifying that she is letting go of her emotional baggage. Can we just say that we are so glad they did not bring a romantic storyline to these two? We would have hated that a lot more than we hate Krzysiek. But on that peaceful, somewhat comic note on the banks of the river, “Delivery by Christmas” comes to an end.
Final Thoughts: What Works For ‘Delivery by Christmas’?
We believe that what worked for “Delivery by Christmas” was the writer’s recognition that it was not just about two people finding love. It can be about an old couple rediscovering their romance, someone choosing to start a new chapter of their lives, fulfilling long-held dreams, or just being friends with one another. Basic human emotions and their stories that get lost in the excess commercialization of the holiday. To be honest, the jaded grinch in us was fully prepared to be disappointed in “Delivery by Christmas,” but it managed to impress us with its subtlety and insights. We don’t need 20 Christmas movies; we just need one that is sensitive in the right way. And this is what we will watch with our friends over the holiday.
“Delivery by Christmas” is a 2022 Drama Romance film directed by Aleksandra Kulakowska and Maciej Prykowski.
